Free Fall
Posted at 6:00 AM on March 17, 2010
by Dale Connelly
(40 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to see the Del McCoury Band tomorrow, March 18th, at the Cedar Cultural Center.
Enter the drawing.
Obey the rules. We'll close off entries at 1p.m today and will notify winners by e-mail this afternoon.
Good luck!
Bathtub Safety Officer Rafferty has asked that I turn over the blog to him today in the interests of securing life and limb for excitable people who may be open to suggestion.
Attention Civilians!Happy St. Patrick's Day!
And by "happy", I mean have a SAFE St. Patrick's Day! Safety for me IS happiness. Please, please, no matter what the green beer tells you to do ... keep your feet on the ground and your wits about you!
As humans, we are open to suggestion, and we like to believe we are capable of amazing feats! For example, it has come to my attention that an attempt to make the highest-ever freefall jump from a balloon will occur sometime this year. The spacesuit wearing jumper will step out of a capsule 23 miles above the surface of the Earth and will endeavor to reach the speed of sound in the thin atmosphere at the edge of space before navigating his way, via parachute, to a safe landing on terra firma.
The attempt has legitimate scientific goals and a serious and experienced support team. It also has an energy drink as its main sponsor.
As a public safety officer I find this quite alarming. Canned beverages have a lousy history as underwriters of record-setting attempts (see St. Patrick's Day, above).
I have no authority over the group making this particular high altitude bid, but I hope everyone else will think at least twice before agreeing to become a human projectile.
"You can break the speed of sound without a plane" is a proposition that only sounds good on paper. Come to think of it, it doesn't sound good there, either.And yet Human Projectile Behavior is on the rise, especially now in the wake of the Winter Olympics. Yes! Apparently, there's a feeling that high speed - friction + flight = harmless fun.
Think I'm kidding? More than 4 million people have watched this fake stunt on You Tube.
How do I know this is fake? More than 4 million people have watched it on You Tube. Be serious. Real things don't draw that kind of audience.Please, if anyone approaches you with a suggestion that it would be "cool" to join the circus as a human cannonball, or leap off a mountain with only a snowboard attached to your feet, bungee jump from a bridge, or plummet, uncontrolled and unsupervised from a helicopter, balloon, statue, landmark or precipice of any kind, please, please, walk away briskly in the nearest safe direction.
And really, why would you drink anything green?
Yours in harmless fun.
Bathtub Safety Officer Rafferty.
Comfortable with heights?
Comments (40)
yes, i'm comfortable with heights. if the roof needs fixing, pole barn door needs lubrication, if anything needs to be done on a ladder, Steve will hold the ladder for me :-) i don't think a plummet thru space would be a good idea though. my idea of risk is staying up past 10 pm. (which i will be doing - going out to check Alba and Dodger every couple hours during the night beginning saturday at the latest).
i think Donna is the adventurer - and we haven't heard from her for awhile.... maybe she started her green beer early?
Happy St. Pat"s Day to All,
I forgot to get corn beef for an Irish meal today, but we do have some beer which probably will not be served with green coloring. I'll have to find something green to wear.
When at the edge of high places I wouldn't need green clothing to celibrate this day because I would probably turn a sickly green color due to fear. I even get nervous when I see other people get near the edge of a high place.
I'm w/ Barb... not usually a big risk taker. For me, just getting through one day at a time seems like a pretty big adventure! Not fond of heights, although enclosed heights are easier. Of course, there are always quirky exceptions. I had the chance to go to Africa 14 years ago and a hot air balloon ride in Kenya was one of the offerings for an activity. Seemed silly to let a "once-in-a-lifetime" possibility go by. It was fabulous and I wasn't scared, as long as I didn't look directly down!
I'm quite comfortable with heights and ladders, up through about two steps up a ladder. The third step up is okay if I'm wearing a helmet and pads. The fourth rung is for people in full padding who have a safety rope and someone to spot the ladder.
But even the fifth step up a stepladder is safer than drinking green beer. Anyone who does that deserves the result.
Happy Saint Paddy's Day, Heartlanders. I have a set of green shamrock deely boppers, and today is the only day of the year I get to wear them.
Good morning, all.
Afraid of heights. One of my children likes snowboarding, and it scares me to watch.
Hope everyone enjoys the day, green beer or not.
Dale, could you play something recorded by Dick Hensold to celibrate St. Pat's day? He is one of my favorites among the many celtic music preformers in our area. You could play a tune off Dick's Big Music for Northumbrian Smallpipes CD or off the Pipers Crow CD.
Dick is playing tonight at the Cherokee Tavern from 5:30 to 8:30 in St. Paul
Good Morning RH,
I am not comfortable with heights. It' been that way ever since I learned that if I were to jump out of my upstairs bedroom, I would most likely NOT land upright on my feet and walk merrily away, which is what I thought when I was younger.
In my thirties.
Missed the blog a couple of days because it's that time of year when this teaching gig actually turns into work. Report cards and such nonsense.
Happy Birthday Barb in BH! Others who share your day of birth include: Rob Lowe, Gary Sinise, Lesley-Anne Down, Kurt Russell, Nat King Cole, and "Three Stooges" actor Shemp Howard.
I found that by googling so take it with a grain of salt --or corn of pepper. You pick - it's YOUR BIRTHDAY for God's sakes!
I AM NOT EVEN DISCUSSING THIS.
Happy B-day, barb.
Happy B-Day indeed, Barb...looks to be a sunny one..Do NOT clean any goat pens today...and that's and order!
ps...perhaps they are already done and ready for offspring?
pps. Waiting for that goat head/herd song from Sound of Music...
ppps. Thank you for Morning Has Broken yesterday, Dale & Mike.
Happy Birthday Barb, and thanks for sharing the goats with us...I enjoy ...
Top o' the mornin' to all bloggers and cloggers.
I am well grounded and here I stay.
I made very green pea soup for church tonight. It seemed boring so I added Asian chili sauce. I am only part Irish so I think it is appropriate.
I wonder what BSO Rafferty would say about deely bobbers....
Dale, I'm sure you have some Boiled in Lead planned for this morning could you add the Brass Kings along side BIL? They're opening for BIL tonight at the annual St Patricks Day concert @ First Ave......we wish we could go but alas, work the next day gets in the way of a late night out and we didn't plan ahead to take the day off this year.
In a Gadda Da vida......Nice.
Happy Birthday Barb.
Greetings! Happy Birthday, Barb -- and many happy returns! Generally, I'm comfortable with heights -- in moderation. Getting up on a slanted roof is not in my repertoire, though. Enclosed and/or dark spaces are definitely out of the question.
I have a VERY Irish brother-in-law. He and my sister own The Monarch Tavern -- a great restaurant/tavern in Fountain City, WI. I'm sure they will have a busy, fun day at the bar. But the whole green beer thing is beyond me. The Monarch has great microbrews -- why mess it up with green coloring?
Have a great day, all!
Thanks, Dale, for playing Dick hensold.
Happy birthday Barb. Great choice of birth day music. I once attended a concert where Iron Butterfly played the song you requested, but it would have been better if had been throat singers.
Barb in Blackhoof . . . is it a big bother for you (and the goats, of course) to receive guests? When the weather gets nice (notice how optimistic I am, not saying "IF" the weather will get nice) Blackhoof is sort of on the way I go to my cabin. I could drop by if that isn't a huge nuisance.
happy b-day, barb, even if you don't like birthdays...
i guess you just like goat birthdays better!
i confess that while watching the olympics i saw enough luge, skeleton, bobsled, ski jumping,etc. to become at least a little curious about what it would feel like to become that human projectile....might be a rush!
so, dale, are there any songs that mention kierkegaard or, failing that, philosophy in general? it would be nice to mark the passing of Kierkegaard scholar howard hong in that way. thx.
Happy Birthday, Barb. I live on the Great Plains for a reason. As I have aged I have become increasingly uncomfortable with heights, and I even start to have panic when I am in the mountains-I think I have become more susceptible to altitude sickness. I like my surroundings flat or rolling, not peaky. As a child I loved to climb trees and shinny up poles and ladders. No more, I'm afraid. My 15 year old daughter and her best friend convinced my husband to put the ladder up this summer so they could climb on the roof and star gaze. I was envious of them.
Cynthia - the kidding pens are READY!! a huge gift from (my dear) Steve, who worked on the last one yesterday with no help from me. what a guy. i did Quick Books all day (pen-cleaning much preferred to that - so much more evident that something is getting done). the sheets and towels are clean, today the "kidding kit" is getting a checkover, and tomorrow my friend will stop at Fleet Farm on the way up to buy the little colorful collars for the kiddos.
Dale - i got in the house from milking and had a premonition that i should run right to the computer and start the stream again so i could listen while i filtered the milk and got it into ice bath. and AT THAT MOMENT i heard my song. wow, you have incredible timing!! thanks so much!
Steve, visitors have to sign a waiver that says we are not responsible for any items of clothing or body parts that get goat-chewed. oh, and not for the aroma one may take away from the Gentlemen's Club, right Cynthia in Mahtowa??
thanks for the good wishes, All. Happy St. Pat's
Are there some fans of Irish music among us? Last night I briefly watched that TPT "Celtic Woman" show with those pretty little women with capped teeth and phony smiles playing ersatz Celtic music. I suppose someone likes that kind of thing, but there are people who eat sugar from the bowl by the spoonful, too.
The most gloriously authentic Celtic music I can offer to those of you with computers that have decent speakers is the BBC "Highland Sessions." This ran many years ago but is still on some internet server. A number of gifted Celtic performers holed up for a long weekend in some old castle and just played their hearts out. BBC made four hour-long shows with the outtakes.
Folks, it doesn't get better than that.
Google "Highland Sessions" and try to keep track of the fact that there are four of them. Some of the music is so good I get wet eyes each time I hear it. No capped teeth or fog machines were involved in filming these gems.
i didn't think i was afraid of anything until we visited the Soudan underground mine a couple summers ago. being in a little, clattering, enclosed "cage" in the dark, packed in like sardines with 15 other folks, plummeting downward 2,341 feet brought me to almost panic. when we got down to the 27th level, though, it was absolutely fascinating and the trip up was fine.
Irish music? Yes! Thanks, Steve, for the link.
Heights? No! I once did one of those tree walk things , where they have small, swaying suspension bridges going from treetop to treetop. I climbed up the first bridge and immediately wanted to assume the fetal position. Getting down was a big, big, challenge. In an early St. Patrick's Day celebration, I was a lovely shade of green.
In Calgary you can ride down the Olympic bobsled track. (="http://www.winsportcanada.ca/cop/activities/bobsleigh_rides.cfm" target="_blank">Link You spend a large amount of money ($165 currently) for about a minute of terror, going at about half the speed of a real race, seeing nothing and wondering why people choose to do this. But it was sure fun to talk about afterwards, and, while watching the most recent Olympics, to be able to calmly say, "Oh. I've done that."
Dale, your reading my mind again. Thanks for playing Mary Black. Happy St. Patty's Day all, and Happy Birthday Barb!.
Jennifer O'Halgren
Don thanks me for the link, but I failed to give it. Here it is:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4902336240221187107#
(Sorry: I can't make the link active, but you can copy and paste this)
There are buttons on the right hand side of this page that will take you to sessions 2, 3 and 4.
happy birthday barb,
the lead dog in the blog listings, if barb is first the world is correct.
i am not afraid of heights. i kinda like getting high. i am an irish indian pollock, me and alcohol have a great time
thanks for the irish music link steve. great stuff.
i will try the bobsled as well
happy st pattys day on you, may the wind always be at your back.
H.B. to you, B in BH.
I used to be able to do all kinds of heights, till I hit my 40s. Can barely go halfway up a tall ladder, but will if Husband needs help with something. I wish that would reverse itself.
We'll be drinking our golden Mead that we brewed from a glut of apples last summer/fall. It turned out to be pretty good, kind of between wine and beer, and I suppose we could add green food coloring...
Off topic and a couple of days late: Thoroughly enjoyed RH show with the Wailin Jennys and the Bovine songs, Dale.
I wouldn't say I was afraid of heights exactly, I am afraid of my urge to go flying off them (sort of a right brain warring with the left brain thing)-so the idea of jumping from 23 miles up has a sort of thrilling, intellectual curiosity for me (what would you think about on the way down, how long would it take?) the other side of the brain is going-what a stupid way to die.
I loved climbing to the top of of Harney Peak with my then 5 year old, but then , there are no big drop offs, so it is all good.
Happy birthday Barb, and happy birthing days to come-makes me think I need to watch some All Creatures since I am trapped in the city.
Thanks for Dick Hensold and one of our great favorites, Why Paddy's Not at Work Today-somebody should do a Youtube of that.
I enjoy heights. One of my prior jobs was an inspector for the Ag department and I measured farm fields and checked on grain bins. I remember sitting on top of a 70' silo that was pretty cool and another huge grain bin that was, I think, 60' diameter and 60' tall.
We have two 50' silos on our farm that are always fun to climb the ladder on the outside and just stand up there looking around...
There's also a TV tower on our property that's 245' tall. After it was built but before it was fully activated I was determined to crawl up that. I went half way before deciding that was high enough.
Here in the theater I use a 40' genie lift and that sways a little bit if you get all the way up there... you just try not to pay attention to that.
But, I'm a big believer in Safety too. And I quote BSO Rafferty frequently.
Happy Birthday Barb!
And Happy St. Pats Day.
Happy birthday Barb in Blackhoof! Hope the day is grand.
I am selective about heights: extension ladders are a no go, but up on a scaffold is okay (to a point). Balconies - sure. Sloped roof - maybe. Swinging rope bridges - not a chance.
Dog took himself for a walk this morning, so I was out chasing around this morning looking for the hound rather than catching up on the blog at my usual time. Dog is home safe, thanks to good neighbors and a complacent pooch willing to walk with most anyone. Glad he didn't go up anywhere too high (though he is, like Farley Mowat's Mutt, working on climbing ladders...oh dear).
"The Dog Who Would Not Be," one of Mowatt's many maervelous pieces of fictions disguised as truth, Anna. Fun read.
My dog did climb ladders as I can prove with pix.
Clyde - recently finished reading "The Dog Who Would Not Be" (from your recommendation). It was a fun read, whether or not it was fully truthful...
Let's say he could embroider a tale. Now try "The Boat Who Would Not Float." or "Owls in the Family"
I love his stuff, especailly the Northern Canad writings, of which there are many. But you always have to question the truth since his most famous non-fiction work is proven to be based on a very large lie.
Anna -- glad the pooch is safe. I just "rescued" a dog last night. Driving home and noticed a big yellow lab strolling calmly in front of the library with no human in sight. We did a U-turn, stopped and called him. He came right to us and luckily had a collar and tag. Called his peeps, who were out looking for him that very minute. So we held onto him and talked to him and petted him until they came about 10 minutes later. Very nice dog. Of course, then OUR dogs went crazy when we came home smelling like some other dog.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!!
My heart just sinks when I see loose dogs. Our Welsh Terrier is a door darter who loves to take us on merry chases on somewhat busy streets. We once lost her for a couple of hours in a fog, but have always managed to find her without too much incident.
I'm not afraid of heights, per se, as I love to be stationary (or is that stationery?) on mountains and in trees, etc.. I'm perfectly fine with ladders and all that. But throw a little motion into the potion, and I'm a gonner. I got car sick while driving in the mountains of West Virginia, and actually fell down (!!!) while at Expo '67 with my famiy in the total-surround movie theater while they were showing skiers going off ski jumps, and air planes twirling in air and so forth. How embarassing!
Happy Birthday, Barb.
You impress me, Clyde. You are right to respect Mowat as a writer and you are right to say he has problems with truth. I was once assigned to write an article about distortions of fact in Never Cry Wolf. The number of documented falsehoods is very long.
Sometimes a bad book can be a good thing. That book did a great deal for wolves at a time they needed friends. Too bad it deviates from the truth so often.
Steve, the old bugger is still alive. Tough old guy, Mowatt. My son and I collect books on polar and extreme northern adventure and exploration, thus we have a few books by him. I have a book of his which is a collection of letters with commentary by him, the letters he wrote to his parents and they wrote back during WWII. Stark reading for one thing because he was badly battle shocked in WWII, I have read that people who knew him before and after the war say the war changed him greatly, which he I am sure would not deny. So I forgive him a little more for that. His fight for the Native peoples of north central Canada was heroic and ahead of his time, but again his books on that have some questions. My favorite of his is "No Man's River," about the Barren lands where "NCW" is set. The last third of the book is dead on right about a trip down a river he had to have taken because nobody then knew about it. But the first 2/3 covers the same ground as two earlier giants of books with one key person appearing in two of the books. But he never mentions the two earlier books which he has to have read. Biographical information on Mowatt makes it doubtful he was gone to the Barrens as long as he claims (as in NCW). So you always wonder with him. But "Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is very funny.
I love basset hounds, but they do tend to wander if they aren't enclosed (the gate was accidentally left open last night). What made me most nervous this morning was that I had let our hound out without his collar. Thankfully a neighbor boy saw him and announced to his dad that "Barney was lost" and in their yard...so the neighbor herded him home. My prior basset liked to take herself on walks to smell the Burger King smells that were nearby where I lived then. She was always easy to find. :)
I see the occasional loose dog in our neighborhood and it always makes me heartsick thinking about the humans who are missing their pooch (who was probably running by the creek and got away for a bigger adventure).
And I agree about Mowat - good writer, but it's a pity he felt the need to embroider the truth.
Tear jerker dog story. Get out your Kleenex Renee and Anna and whoever else. Friends were driving across the very bottom of CA. Stopped at a rest stop in their camper, west of El Centro in the desert. Found a little dog in very bad shape from the heat and dryness.. Clearly a pet. Took it to a vet in El Centro and stayed there for a couple of days, waiting for it to mend and the vet sent out word. But no one claimed it.Finally headed west again, taking the dog. Stopped at same rest stop. Saw a 40 something couple sitting there looking off in the desert. Took the dog out to walk it. the couple came running up. His father had had a hear attack there in their camper. Dog ran off from the sirens.
Clyde-I'm just glad the dog was found before it died. I suppose it's just protective armor for me, but in the course of my work I can hear about he most awful things happening to kids and take it in stride, but if I hear about bad things happening to animals I can barely stand it.
Oh my, Clyde. What a story. I'm glad that the dog was able to be returned to its family.
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